Vietnam falls prey to monster typhoon Haiyan

Staff Writer

5 years ago

As the Philippines faced a long, grim path to recovery in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, the storm plowed into northeastern Vietnam early Monday, packing powerful winds and forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate.
Philippine authorities warned that the typhoon may have killed thousands there, leaving behind a trail of devastation on a scale they’d never seen before.
No electricity. No food. No water. Houses and buildings leveled. Bodies scattered on the streets. Hospitals overrun with patients. Medical supplies running out. And a death toll that could soar.
The Philippine Red Cross estimates that at least 1,200 people were killed by the storm, but that number could grow as officials make their way to remote areas made nearly inaccessible by Haiyan.Others put the toll much higher: The International Committee of the Red Cross said it’s realistic to estimate that 10,000 people may have died nationally.The grim task of counting the bodies was just beginning Monday as authorities sifted through the rubble of what was left behind in hard-hit cities like Tacloban on the island of Leyte.
The official toll stood at 255 Monday, according to the country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
“I have not spoken to anyone who has not lost someone, a relative close to them. We are looking for as many as we can,” Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez told CNN.